Tʜᴇ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇs sᴀʟᴛʏ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀʀʀʏ ɪᴛ ɪɴ? (open)

[stations]

WHO: Jack Townsend & You
WHEN: October
WHERE: The Horizon, Thorne
WHAT: Jack sleepwalks and manifests his hallucinations into reality, accidentally steals people's memories, and/or works at a gas station.
WARNINGS: Mental illness, language, drug use, amputations, general insanity.

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ?

Comments

[aquilus]

[Altaïr isn't sure what he's said to set the man off balance, but he can live without knowing unless it becomes important. He's more curious about the gas.]

Fascinating.

[He understood about half of those words actually, but he gets the gist of their overall meaning.]

I did not intend to. I thought it clearly spoiled. [But it turns out he's just not the one who would need it. Although.] Is there anything in the Horizon for it to fuel?

[stations]

( Well, Jack thinks, gas is just kind of spoiled fossils. He's not wrong about that. )

Not really. ( He admits it with a nonchalant shrug. ) I've seen some people drive cars, but it's not like they need gas since everything's, like... fake.

( A beat passes; he glances between the gas pumps and the machines behind him, then back again. )

Hey, have you ever had like a Slurpee? You might like that a little more, since it's... actually edible.

[aquilus]

[What's a car— He wants to ask it, but the man moves on too fast. He tries not to display his peevishness; it's not likely that he shaped his domain for the purpose of inspiring and answering questions.

He pauses before answering the question presented to him because. Well. What's a Slurpee?]

I have not.

[stations]

Okay, cool.

( He jerks his head toward the doors. )

Come on, it's on the house.

( Because... everything's on the house. Because it isn't real. Whatever, it's the gesture that counts.

At any rate, if Altaïr follows, he'll catch Jack on the tail end of pouring him a blue raspberry Slurpee. He pops a straw in, then holds it out expectantly.

It'd be a lie to say he isn't absolutely fascinated by the prospect of watching someone have their first frozen sugar drink. )

[aquilus]

[That one he can at least gather from context.

Altaïr does follow, and raises an eyebrow at the unnaturally blue drink. It looks more like paint has been mixed into the liquid than berries or other ingredients; surely the ingredients were meant as pigments, not flavoring.

When the cup is handed over, he looks at it skeptically. Sniffs. And finally takes a sip.]

...what is this?

[stations]

Legally, we can't call it 'Blue Raspberry Slurpee' since that's patented, and it's technically... not that, but.

( He shrugs a shoulder. )

It's close enough. It's the Mexican knock-off brand. Baya de Trueno Azul doesn't sound as catchy. Mostly because the locals can't pronounce it.

( Frankly, they barely speak coherent English in his hometown.

For a slightly clearer explanation: )

It's just food coloring, sugary ice, and raspberry flavoring.

[aquilus]

[Ah. So it is some kind of pigment.]

What makes the coloring this bright?

[He takes another sip. It's not bad. Overly sweet for his taste, but not bad.]

This is a common beverage in your world?